


The Fire that Saved Tadashi

by La_Saffron



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Fire Queen, Forget it-I'm drunk, Insanity, Jack and Violet-Jiolet?, Murder of Callaghan?, One of the greatest stories I've written so far, ShitttttTake Mushrooms, Some mention of seduction, Still continuing from last year, The Three Muses, the big four
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 22:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6026806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Saffron/pseuds/La_Saffron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dead Tadashi? Dead WRONG! Saved from the inferno by a gorgeous fire queen, Ultra Violet, Tadashi finds himself in an alternate universe of flames as he heals himself from the harmful flames of Callaghan's hate. No one ever told him this involved a year's stay at the spirit's place, her subconsciously seducing him, and insanity driving through his mind would come as consequences...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

She felt it when it happened.

The Magma Queen, also known as Ultra Violet, was tending to the lavafall, making sure it had the proper heat to keep the Chamber running smoothly when she felt a disturbance.

When the immortal spirit felt a disturbance, it meant all different kinds of things. A certain twinge in her body, a sharp pain, a small migraine, anything affecting her, usually meant a fire had erupted somewhere.

This was no ordinary fire. Someone had created this fire for personal and evil, vengeful purposes. People could die.

And Violet, having done this a few times in her four billion years of living, decided to go and calm the fire down a bit so it shouldn’t be as catastrophic as it could be.

She set out in a ray of fire, moving at the speed of light to the location of the fire. When she got there, Violet as standing in front of a building that looked like an exhibit took place.

The fire had just started and people started to run out, screaming and coughing. Though the survivors were running as fast as they could, the immortal queen saw everything in slow motion while she moved around normally.

Violet slipped inside the building through the staircase with ease and looked around the fire in slow motion. Inventors must have been there because many different objects and stages were burning quickly. Signs and flags of the presumably nearby university had crumpled into ashes before joining the excited fire. The entire hall was a raging inferno

Feeling a twinge of pity, Violet stretched out her arms and ordered the raging flames to settle down a few hundred degrees. The dancing flames obeyed their mistress and shrunk a little lower than nature.

Doing this, Violet walked around and mentally with physical motions ordered the fire to cool itself a bit.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man running to one of the burning stages in the corner of the giant hall. Her bright fire-like eyes followed him as he staggered a bit around the flames and made his way towards the corner of the circular stage.

An old man, Violet presumed. A foolish old man whose life is wasted and desolate. Robert Callaghan.

Of course, the immortal queen knew everyone and everything since her assistant is the Sun, who sees everything and thus reports this to her mistress, Violet.

Violet turned her attention away from the slow motion scene and continued to settle the flames down a bit more. When she decided she had done her share, she heard a voice and snapped out of her slow motion realm.

“Professor!”

Violet picked her head up towards the voice, a bit startled and confused. The fire was very loud, blocking out the voice, but she ordered the flames to quiet themselves.

“Prof-” the voice started again, but was interrupted by a hacking cough. The smoke was slowly entering the person’s lungs.

Violet saw a young man, about nineteen years old, in a green blazer and brown pants, jogging towards her direction, covering his mouth and nose with his elbow to keep the smoke from filling up his lungs. He looked a little burnt on his right arm and his torso covered in ash.

He leapt around the hungry flames

Professor.

The world went slow motion once again as Violet glanced behind her, to see Professor Robert Callaghan reaching for what looked like a headpiece on the stage.

Her attention turned back to the young man, who had stopped jogging and was busy coughing.

CRACK.

Violet looked upward at the sound. One of the large beams that held up the building had cracked and was starting to disassemble.

On top of the boy.

The Magma Queen gasped and cried out, “No!” as she zipped to where the boy was coughing. He glanced up momentarily, before realizing he had other things to worry about than coughing his lungs out.

The beam lost its hold and crashed down upon the boy, but it never reached him. Violet was standing in front of him and had roped a whip of fire around the broken beam that held it up and threw it to the side, leaving the couple unharmed.

Having his lungs filled with anything but oxygen, the young man fainted in Violet’s arms. As she held the unconscious boy tightly, her angry eyes followed to where the professor was.

He put on the headpiece by now and had small black robots protect him in a fireproof shell, completely disregarding the fact that he deliberately left another person to potentially die.

The immortal spirit’s eyes literally blazed with fury as she sped out of the building, with the flames still dancing in slow motion, but growing continuously by the minute.

She arrived at the side of the building and glanced behind her, eyebrows furrowed in anger and disappointment.

The survivors had gathered at distance, but one teenage boy stood at the bottom of the staircase to the building, holding a baseball cap in his hand. He started to make his way forward to the entrance.

The anger in Violet boiled hotter than the Sun as she thought about this unconscious boy in her arms who tried to save that damned professor inside the building, and now this other young boy seemed go with the same intent.

The nerve of humans… the spirit fumed quietly. That man must die to put other selfless stupid humans out of danger.

Unable to control herself, her eyes filled with flames as she thrust out a hand towards the burning building, releasing a ball of energy.

BOOM!

The building exploded, shattering all glass and releasing a wave of force and energy rippling through the area, blowing back anyone close enough to be blown back.

In this case, the boy who stood stupidly close to the enflamed building, holding his baseball hat because reasons.

Hmm. What a thought.

How wrong could an immortal queen, who knew it all, be when she heard a voice a few moments later, crying out, “Tadashi! Tadashi!!!”

Violet turned around to see the boy being approached by the crowd and seven other members, presumably his family and close friends.

The boy wailed, “Stop! He’s in there!”, but a woman with short frizzy hair held him close quietly, as tears flowed down her round face. The boy, who had shaggy black hair, sobbed into her torso, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe this was happening to him.

Violet lowered her head in thought.

He’s in there…

Professor…

Tadashi…

Her head shot in conclusion. Of course! Tadashi was the boy she carried in her arms and his brother, the boy who wailed with his baseball cap, was his brother, Hiro. The woman who was holding him was his guardian and aunt, Cass Carson.

They were the infamous Hamada brothers whom she had heard about by Dai-Tai, her Japanese Muse, who talked about them constantly.

Violet gazed thoughtfully at Tadashi’s pale face, illuminated by the fire in the background. She came to a decision at last, turned around to give the building one last glare and slipped into the shadows with a dangerous curse towards it.

Robert Callaghan must die through fire.


	2. Chapter 1

He opened his eyes. Or at least he tried to. His eyelids felt heavier than lead. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying not to fall asleep, subconsciously knowing he had done that for longer than usual.

He took in a deep breath, but nearly regretted it. His ribcage felt like it had been shattered and wrongly misplaced. Breathing lightly didn’t seem to be an option either. He needed air and was losing it quickly. He tried to move his legs, but was numb waist down. Mentally cursing in his head, he opened his eyes once more and struggled to keep them open.

After succeeding to win the battle with his half lidded eyes, he looked around him. Giant red and orange silk curtains flooded around him like a messy, but comfy canopy. The room was heated, yet provided a certain breeze that often cooled the area.

He then looked down and saw his body hidden under a thin, but comfortable blanket. No, that wasn’t the right word. It was more like lava that was materialized into some sort of cloth. Well, wasn't it beautiful.

Suddenly, he felt his right arm moving on its own. He creaked his head to the right to see a young attractive woman tending to his arm, bandaging his forearm. Her hair was fiery red and constantly moving, like a living flame, and pulled back into a high bun. One thing that stood out was one big black curl that hung loosely around the bun. She was wearing a black sleeveless top and ripped shorts. Her necklace was gems that were molded into each other to create a new gem that he had never seen before.

The girl looked concentrated, almost disappointed that she was bandaging his arm.

“Who?” he croaked. His voice sounded like it was going through puberty from a frog’s perspective. Instantly, a thin finger was on his lips as if to silence him. Never in his life had he seen someone move so fast, especially after intense concentration. They should’ve at least been delayed a moment or two.

“Sh, sh, sh,” the girl shushed him. “Don’t exert yourself too much. Look more, speak less.”

As her finger removed itself from his lips, a new surge of energy filled him. Not enough to get up, but enough to talk and breath a little more normal.

“Who are you? Where am I? What happened?” he said, using his new energy quickly, but it left him exhausted.

The girl smiled lightly, as if she has been through this quick interrogation before. “Call me Naphtha, you’re in the Chamber of Rocks, and…you almost died.”

“Oh.” That was a nice way of putting it.

She continued to bandage his numb right arm, moving slowly to his palm. He couldn’t think clearly. A total migraine had taken him over, but whenever she spoke, he felt nice and was relaxed.

They sat in a few more moments of silence before Naphtha sealed off his bandaged hand, leaving the fingers exposed.

“So, do you remember what happened?” she asked him, leaning on her right arm over his right leg.

He would protest, but he couldn’t really feel anything and also, she had this majestic appearance about her, even though she was dressed commonly. He felt it would be disrespectful.

“I, uh, don’t really know.” He mumbled. Naphtha looked away in thought before looking back at him again. “Fine. Let’s start with your name. Who are you and where are you from?”

“Why do you need to know?” he replied, immediately regretting his response.

She smiled amusingly. “I already know. It’s you who needs to know and remember.”

He frowned. “It’s not like I have amnesia…do I?”

Naphtha shook her head. “No, but you have an immense migraine right now, which makes it difficult to think. But I need you to try on your own.”

“Um, sure. Anything.” I can’t believe I just said that out loud. He thought.

“So, go.” She urged.

He thought intensely, even though it shouldn’t have been that hard. He closed his eyes, but it stung his eyes after being exposed to air for so long.

“I am…Tadashi Hamada… and I come from…San Francisco-”

“San Fransokyo.”

“Right. I meant to say that. I have a brother, Hiro and—Oh my goodness!” He sat upright and immediately slid back down like a vegetable.

Naphtha sat him up normally within a flash before he hit the bottom of his cushion. “I told you, don’t exert yourself.”

“But, but, but, m-my brother! A-and the fire!” Tadashi gasped once more. “Professor Callaghan!”

Naphtha’s bright orange eyes flared, but she seemed to calm down at the last second. “Hmph. A professor who doesn’t value any sort of human life.”

Tadashi turned his head towards her, confusion plastered over his features. “W-wait. You know him? What do you mean he doesn’t value human life?”

Naphtha sighed and looked down into her hands. She silently took Tadashi’s bandaged hand and stroked it, as if she was scared to lose it.

“He almost killed you and many other people through the fire last week.”

“Hold on. Last week?!” Tadashi felt pain; emotional and physical. His migraine was getting stronger.

“Yes. You were unconscious for seven days.”

“What?!” More pain, but at this point, he didn’t care anymore.

“Yes.”

He put his fingers to his temples and rubbed them tiredly. “Best professor killing me…unconscious for a week… what about my family and friends?”

“Oh, they won’t be okay. Emotionally, at least. Your brother has fallen into deep depression, but your aunt and friends will be alright.”

“Oh…” he sighed wistfully. “Oh, no. Okay.”

“You’re saying strange things,” Naphtha pointed out.

Tadashi’s brown orbs looked through Naphtha’s fiery ones. “Is that bad?”

She smiled softly. “No. Four billion years and you’d think I’ve seen worse.”

Tadashi laughed, but it turned into coughing not long after he started. “I’m sorry, what?” he said once he calmed down.

“I’m four billion years old. Maybe more. I sort of lost count.” Naphtha trailed off, as if thinking about how many birthdays she really commemorated. “Yeah, I lost count. But that doesn’t matter right now.”

Tadashi simply stared at the young looking spirit, thinking she probably went insane. On second thought, maybe he was just insane and she was just making a joke. But as far as he could see, Naphtha’s expression deemed pretty serious.

“Are you joking?” he asked cautiously, expecting to get laughed at.

“No.”

Tadashi raised a thick eyebrow. By this point, he was wondering whether she was really human or not. The way she spoke about humans…as if she wasn’t. The look in her eyes always bore into his own, added that her eyes were the color of fire.

The very aura around Naphtha was almost heavenly, like an angel’s glow. Even her name, Naphtha, sounded very much like an element in fire transliterated into Ancient Greek.

Tadashi pursed his chapped lips. “You might think I’m crazy for asking you this, but humor me.”

Naphtha shrugged.

“Are you human?”

“No. I used to be.”

“How long ago?”

“It’s…complicated.”

“How so? I can understand.”

Naphtha looked at him skeptically, which told him he was wrong. “I was human over 10,000 years ago and I somehow traveled back in time to the beginning of all beginnings: when Earth was nothing but lava and volcanoes.” she recounted.

He thought about this. “So, what are you exactly?”

“Who, not what.” Naphtha corrected. “I am a spirit, queen of fire, also known as the Magma Queen.”

Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “You’re the oldest spirit alive, then?”

“Yes.”

He rubbed his temples, even though his pain had subsided. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Exactly why you need to rest.” Naphtha smiled, showing off a straight array of white teeth. “I’ll check on you in the morning.”

Before he could protest, she reached out and touched his forehead. At her touch, Tadashi instantly shut his eyes and succumbed into the most peaceful sleep he ever had.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: long chapter. I leave you with your thoughts and a bitchy Anaya :)

Tadashi mumbled in his sleep before cracking his eyes open. He lay on his side rather than on his back, his hands tucked safely under the cushion his head rested on.

Before he even took another breath, he realized he was shirtless. Tadashi’s eyebrows shot up as he lifted the lava comforter up and peeked down at his body.

His torso was  
wrapped in a thin but tight brace, which meant his spine was probably weak. Thankfully, he had boxers and pants on, but they felt different than cotton.

I’m wearing spiritual sweatpants, Tadashi thought. He silently laughed, but winced, realizing that his ribs were still fractured. He looked around and took in his surroundings.

The room changed from the night before. The gossamer curtains which made up his canopy bed were braided into different colors to reflect pouring lava. The room looked like a giant ancient hotel room with a balcony supported by pillars.

Fire flowers sprouted from different points of the room. A mini lavafall flowed from the ceiling over to the right and spread throughout the rest of the room.

Even though the room was filled with boiling hot substances whose very presence should’ve burned Tadashi, the room was invitingly warm with the same occasional cool breeze, like mid-spring.

He heard a sudden whooshing sound to his left. Naphtha stood there with her fiery hair pulled into a high ponytail except that one black curl hanging free. This time, she wore a short sleeveless red (Tadashi’s favorite color) dress with a ripped hem. Brown strapped bandaged around her forearms.  
She smiled brightly at Tadashi. “Good morning.”

“Oh, uh, good morning.” Tadashi tried to smile, but probably looked like he was constipated.

Naphtha didn't seem to notice his pained smile. “Come, I have food for you.”

“But...” Tadashi turned onto his back. “Am I strong enough?”

Naphtha chuckled. “You tell me.”

She was right. He did feel a little better now, minus the fractured ribs, bandaged torso and burned forearms. He sat up and didn't slide down.

“Well?” she inquired, a smile still plastered on her face. The early morning rays shone around her form, illuminating her as an angel.

“I feel good.” Tadashi shrugged.

Naphtha walked over to his canopy and snapped her fingers. The lava comforter disappeared and Tadashi's long body was revealed.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and latched onto Naphtha's outstretched hands. She pulled him up, but his legs decided to turn into jelly at the moment and Tadashi slid like a rag doll.

She caught him before he even bent his knees. Naphtha supported him by swinging his left arm over her shoulder and grasping onto his waist. He put his hand on hers and they walked, no, teleported to a different place.

Tadashi saw himself in front of a massive garden with petunias and roses and daffodils, none filled with chlorophyll, but with lava and fiery anthers.

The Sun was shining brightly, but her glare didn't seem to affect Tadashi. He took small steps with his jelly-like legs with Naphtha steering him to whatever direction she was taking them to.

They arrived at a large field, similar to a savannah, where the trees outstretched across the plains, with electricity pulsing through the branches. The grass itself was not dry, but was inflamed with soft purple heat sweeping with the wind.

When he looked up, Tadashi saw a more than a million stars in the sky in the daylight. Strangest thing he had ever seen, but was glad he saw something so beautiful.

Well, maybe that wasn't all that true. He turned his head to glance at Naphtha, who was occasionally glancing at Tadashi's feet to see if he could stabilize himself just yet.

Her beautiful bright orange eyes pulsed with energy and her flame reflecting hair moved and swayed, even though it was pulled back into a ponytail. Her dress was fitting to her slim and perfect body, not to mention she was wearing his favorite color.

And then there was that big black curl.

He burned to ask a million questions about it to his current caretaker. Why was it different from her natural colored hair? How did she get it? Why did she get it? The story behind it? Why couldn't she remove it so her hair looked a bit more normal?

Yet, with all these questions, Tadashi just couldn't bring himself to ask her. Something about that loose curl...the way it separated itself from the other locks of hair. It deemed danger, a mysterious past, a curse.

But last night, it was also pinned up in her bun, a part of him said.

Yes, but it was very loose around the bun, not tied with it, another part of him said.

“We're here,” Naphtha's soft voice cut through his thoughts like butter.

She sat him down as he shook his head. “Oh, so, what is this place?”

She sat down beside him. “Haven't you already guessed?”

Tadashi looked around once more before facing her. “This is your property?” he guessed.

Naphtha threw her head back and laughed. Such a beautiful sound that sounded like it was changing every moment to different forms of laughter.

“Well, not exactly.” Naphtha giggled as she calmed down. “It's different places of the world in my image.”

It took him a minute to click. “We're in Africa!” he exclaimed.

Naphtha chuckled. “Well, yes. In Morocco to be exact. That is in Africa, you know.” she teased playfully.

“Oh ha ha,” Tadashi replied in a monotone. A night and morning was all it took to become Naphtha's friend in a flash.

Suddenly, Tadashi realized he was hungry from a friendly reminder from his stomach. “I don't mean to be rude, but where's the food?”

Naphtha smiled as if she awaited this question. She waved her hand and a big plate of cooked rice with chopped meat and diced onions appeared before them. Small wisps of steam curled up from the platter into the air and Tadashi inhaled the smell.

“Mm. What is this dish?” he said a bit dreamily.

Naphtha smiled slightly as she took a bit of the rice into her fingers and blew it to cool off. How she was able to do this when she was a spirit of heat, Tadashi had no idea.

“In Uzbekistan, it’s called plov.” She held up the food in her fingers to Tadashi’s lips and he opened his mouth and sucked the food off of her fingers.

This gesture wasn’t strange or disgusting to Tadashi because he remembered his mother feeding him this way when he was young and followed the ancient Japanese-Indian tradition of eating off of someone’s fingers.

It was a bit hot, but that’s what made it delicious. He chewed the meat and grinded the rice slowly to savor the moment, but as soon as he swallowed his stomach yearned for more.

“It’s amazing,” he complimented. “Can I have more?”

She continued to feed him and he ate in silence, humming with pleasure every once in a while. Naphtha seemed to search into his deepest memories and replay them by acting them out while healing him.

“Can I ever see my family and friends ever again?” he asked suddenly. It wasn’t random; it had been on his mind ever since he woke up from his unconsciousness.

Naphtha looked up from her fingers that clutched food, still steaming wisps. Her eyes looked a bit sad and the fire in them seemed to extinguish a bit.

She sighed. “Not for at least a year. You were burned pretty badly and I must heal you since the cause of your burns is my element.”

“Then heal me right now, if you can.” He replied.

Naphtha shook her head. “I can’t. Any fire that was caused with evil intentions is not in my range of power, spiritually wise. I must heal you emotionally as well.”

Tadashi frowned. “What do you mean, ‘emotionally’?”

This time, Naphtha frowned and looked unimpressed. “Oh, you have a lot of things to recover from than just burns, sweetheart. You need lessons on life and serious educating.”

“I almost graduated college. What more do I need to learn?”

“There is no such thing as being done with learning. You are always learning something, regardless if you are being educated by someone else or yourself.” Naphtha replied wisely.

That was true. She was so darn smart; it was hard to disagree with her. What can you say? It definitely sounded like something a four-billion-year old spirit would say, despite the fact that she wasn’t Yoda.

He huffed. “Fine, what do I have learn?”  
Naphtha lifted her fingers that contained the warm food, heated by her own body heat that emitted from her. “Eat, and then we go to that.”

Soon, the platter that was once full of plov, was now empty with a few kernels of rice stuck to the plate in small clumps. Naphtha stood up and walked over to a river of lava that wasn’t there before and washed her hands.

Tadashi watched her form as she finished and walked back to him with a cupful of boiling lava in her palms. Tadashi backed away a little, knowing very well what the substance could do to him, worse than fire.

Naphtha held his wrist and poured the liquid over his hands. Tadashi winced, but he felt no pain, just relaxing warmth. The lava dripped over both of their fingers on the purple flames they sat over and disappeared.

She then took her hands and rubbed his mouth with her supposedly wet hands. He made a few sounds that sounded like protesting, but after she removed her hands from his face, his mouth was clean and dry.

Naphtha smirked and flicked a few droplets on the soft purple flames. “How do you feel?”

“Mm, better.” Tadashi said. “Thank you for the food.”

She gave him a toothy smile and held her hands out for him to grab onto. He gratefully grabbed on and she pulled him up in the same position they started the morning off with. This time, he felt stronger and walked with stronger legs than before.

They appeared back at the Chamber of Rocks, but in a throne room this time. Never in his entire life had Tadashi seen something so regal and beautiful.

Lavafalls were everywhere and bigger with streaks of orange pouring down the walls. Purple and blue flames were lit onto giant torches that lit up the hall with gold embroidered around the rim. The ceiling was covered with a thousand suns from around the Galaxy and many constellations. The floor was littered with stars that shined brighter than a hundred diamonds.

While walking down the giant hall, Tadashi heard singing from all around him. Three Muses were appearing and disappearing and played different instruments every time. Beautiful nymphs from lost mythology were tending to the fire flowers and dancing around the walking couple with sparks following their every move.

In the center, was a massive throne with magma pouring down the armrests and spikes of dancing flames jutting out of the entire form. Shooting stars were frozen into the cushion of the seat and the bottom of the throne was heated magma pouring down the steps, cooling into black hard magma with ash designs around the red sparks, ready to erupt at the Queen’s command.

As Naphtha walking arm in arm with Tadashi, the nymphs and servants bowed their heads as she passed and continued with their doings. As she walked up her throne, the chair suddenly shifted to a giant cushion couch for the couple to sit on.

She plopped Tadashi on the couch and sat down next to him, swinging her arm over the backbone. The design was still the same, just in the form of a lounging couch.

First thing that came out of Tadashi’s mouth? “Whoa.”

Naphtha laughed. “Yes, it’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s amazing!” he exclaimed in wonder. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

Naphtha smiled cheekily. A small Armenian styled tiara had formed on her hairline at that moment, which signaled Tadashi that she wasn’t simply a queen by title. Something about her past life meant she was born royal forever.

“Should I call you ‘Your Majesty’?” Tadashi asked hesitantly.

The queen smiled. “Unless you want to. I don’t mind. But most people who know me call me so on instinct.”

“Who knows you?”

“Humans who have mentioned me by name, scholars, and all of the spirits, of course, though some rebel every once in a while.”

“Wait, you a queen of spirits, too?” he asked confused.

“Yes, I am the prime example of what the base of a moral soul should look like, be like, act like, and so forth.” Naphtha said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“You seem like a busy person.” Tadashi said impressed.

Naphtha shrugged. “If you say so. I don’t concentrate on one specific thing. Whatever comes, I accept it as a challenge, no matter how long it takes.”

“Isn’t it frustrating, though?” Tadashi was speaking on behalf of all stressed people at the moment.

“I do have forever, you know.” Naphtha reminded him. “But that’s not a reason to put off challenges. I last only as long as I have the will to.”

He thought about this for a minute. Naphtha could simply end her existence whenever she wanted to.

“You mean you don’t depend on a source to keep you alive?” he asked.

“No. Those are the other spirits and the humans.” Naphtha stated as if she had talked this through with someone before him. “The Guardians, for example, are a group of five children-dependent spirits consisting of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and Jack Frost.”

This seemed familiar to Tadashi and brought back old faded memories from when he used to play with Jack in the rare snow days of San Fransokyo.

“What do you know them by?”

“North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, and Jack.”

“I…I knew Jack.” Tadashi swallowed hard.

Naphtha raised an eyebrow. “Really now?”

“Y-yes,” he stuttered. “We played together in the winter when my brother and I were young.”

Naphtha’s lips curved up a bit before sliding back down. “See, the Guardians depend on the children’s belief intensity. Less believers, less strength.”

“Why is that?”

“Because they’re dependent on something!” Naphtha leaned forward a bit. “Once they take an oath to protect the children with their lives and will, they are bound to the children forever.”

She leaned back against the cushion and sighed. “Truly, it’s such a vulnerable way to die against your enemies.”

“Did you ever have to depend on something?” Tadashi inquired.

“Once.” Naphtha’s slim fingers grasped onto her gem necklace and rubbed it subconsciously.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, Tadashi heard a high-pitched squeal. He turned his head to see the Three Muses he had seen before, kneeling before the couch he lay on with Naphtha.

One Muse was short and looked like a mix of a bunch of Asian races. Her black hair was pulled back in a high bun with a multi-colored lily placed near her ear. Her narrow eyes twinkled with stars and excitement. Her dress wrapped around her small form like a kimono decorated with swirls and patterns from early Japan.

The Muse next to her was a tall Latino woman with caramel colored hair braided down until her ankles. A headpiece adorned her forehead with a small Mexican twist to it. Her large green eyes had smile lines around it as she gazed at Tadashi. The dress she wore was simple, yet elegant and was embroidered with Native American patterns and symbols from the hem up.

The last Muse was a stout big African woman who looked like she was in her forties. Her brown eyes shone with mysteries and seemed to scare Tadashi a bit. Her thick black hair was shaped into an afro and small braids dropped over her round shoulders. Her dress seemed messy, but he assumed that was the style. She wore a glittering sari, wrapping around her wide form like a snake.

Naphtha smiled at her Muses and glanced at Tadashi, whose jaw had dropped in sight of the glorious Muses. “Tadashi Hamada, meet the Three Muses, the ones who haven’t died out and recreated themselves in my image.”

The queen nodded towards the Asian Muse, who was shifting excitedly. “You can introduce yourselves.”

The Asian Muse zipped up to Tadashi and sat down beside him. “Hi! I’m Dai-Tai! I’ve seen you around San Fransokyo a million times and you are SOOOOOOOOOOOO smart! I just can’t even! Hiro is amazingly brilliant and you are absolutely clever to bring him to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology to apply there! WOW!”

Tadashi blinked, not hearing a word she just said. “Uh-buh-what?”

Naphtha laughed, but the Latino Muse stepped up calmly and chuckled. “Dai-Tai, give the boy a chance to actually understand what your rambling was all about.”

Dai-Tai smiled cheekily at Tadashi. “Hee hee, sorry.”

“Sure.”

The Latino Muse smiled. “I am Ragnara, the Muse of Melody. It is very nice to meet you, young man.” She bowed her head and Tadashi sat up and nodded back.

Naphtha looked towards the African Muse. “Ahem.”

The African Muse sighed and walked up to Tadashi. “I am Anaya, The Muse of Harmonization.” She bowed her head a little stiffly.

She peered at Tadashi. “What is your business about that fire, prodigy?”

“What?” Tadashi looked towards Naphtha, who looked completely calm.

“Don’t you know the rules about the Great Flame? How could you possibly ignore such an important thing so blissfully?” Anaya pressed him, hands on her hips, her bracelets dangling.

Dai-Tai looked nervous. “Anaya, the boy wasn’t thinking clearly. He was so swept up in the moment-”

“And what?” Anaya interrupted, her voice level staying calm yet persistent. “The man thinks he can get away with it? Mistress sympathizes too much with handsome humans and lets them seduce her with their fake innocence.” 

Tadashi glanced at Naphtha. He expected her to grow furious at having her Muse talk about her in such a rude manner. However, Naphtha began to chuckle amusingly.

“Oh, Anaya.” Naphtha shook her head. “If any seducing goes around here, it’s going to be me. I don’t seduce men anyways, not unless they are worthy of my treasure.”

Tadashi felt a certain feeling at that moment. What is it? Did he suddenly feel like he had to impress Naphtha to let her seduce him? He shook his head. No, that was ridiculous. He wasn’t ready for that yet. He had no chance with Naphtha. Right?

As Dai-Tai began to speak in rapid Japanese to him, her voice became muffled by his thoughts about Naphtha. She gazed at him and seemed to be reading his thoughts, but that didn’t stop his thoughts.

He suddenly realized something. If he were to fall in love with an immortal queen, his whole life was going to be ruined when he would be released. He might never marry another woman should he mention Naphtha during their relationship.

He rubbed his forehead tiredly. He felt weak, but this time mentally. Who ever warned him of a gorgeous spirit coming to save him and then tempt him with unsaid seduction? No one. 

Yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My battery's about to die...so am I, but in another hour or so once Disney XD airs

**Author's Note:**

> Gravity Falls is ending tonight...just distracting myself from the pain TnT


End file.
